Sunday School Notes: Romans 8:1-3

¹ Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus, ² for the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. ³ For [that which] the Law was powerless [to do] because it was weak [being] through the flesh, God, having sent His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh [did] even concerning sin; He condemned sin in the flesh, ⁴ so that the righteous requirements of the Law may be fulfilled in us–those not walking according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

I have quoted through verse 4 not to leave the passage hanging in mid-thought, but we really only covered the first three verses. With chapter 8, we get to the point that Paul has been building up to over the last few chapters: the Law, while it is good, is unable to save. Even with our best Law-keeping efforts, we are still sinners, under the wrath of God. This applies if you are a Jew, trying to obey the Law that you know, or you are a gentile, trying to be good according to the Moral Law that God has written into creation (see the discussion in chapters 1 and 2). However, in Christ, the righteous requirements of the Law have been fulfilled, and those who are in Christ stand justified before God.

Before launching into chapter 8, we spent a little time going back over the discussion of last week, primarily for the benefit of Mike, my co-leader, who was unable to participate in the discussion on “Saul the Pharisee vs. Paul the Christian.” For context, look back at last week’s notes on Romans 7:13-25. If I might summarize (and Mike, if you’re reading this, please feel free to elaborate in the comments), Mike still believes this passage is from the perspective of Paul the Christian. He gives a lot more weight to the fact that the passage is present tense than I do (though I acknowledge this to be a problem with my position), and emphasizes that the point is that we are positionally redeemed, even though we feel as if we are still enslaved to sin. One of the group suggested that the phrase “sold into bondage to sin” (NASB)  is qualified by the following verses. That is, it’s not the same as being controlled and oriented toward sin, but that while we know what we ought to do, the temptation to do otherwise overcomes us.

I hope I’ve done justice to the viewpoints offered. Please please please don’t let my version of these thoughts stand as the final version of these thoughts if I’m misinterpreting! Use the comments to correct me. However, I remain unconvinced of the Paul the Christian perspective. I acknowledge that while we relate to the sin struggle described in this passage, I don’t think the context allows us to see this as Paul the Christian. His point is not that Christians struggle with sin, but that the Law is incapable of breaking the hold of sin on the life of even the good Jewish Law-keeper. We need Christ and the redemption he provided on the cross to release us from our captivity to sin and death. Yes, verses 15 and 19 of chapter 7 could well describe our everyday experience as Christians; but to let that determine our interpretation does violence, I think, to the context of the passage and the message Paul is trying to communicate here (just like trying to use the marriage analogy earlier in the chapter as an argument against Christians remarrying does violence to the point Paul is trying to make there). But while this is an important issue, it is one we can agree to disagree on… so we do and move on.

Paul begins chapter 8 with a statement that is both the conclusion of the preceding, and an introduction to what follows. Because Christ has paid the penalty for our sin, and by his sacrifice we have been set free from our slavery to sin, the Law, and death, there is no longer condemnation for those who have put their faith in Christ. This is a glorious truth–one that we’ve noted in passing before, and one that bears repeating, if only to remind ourselves. There is no sin we have committed, and no sin we will ever commit that will put us under the wrath of God if we are Christians. In Christ, the justice of God has been satisfied with regard to every one of our sins.

In the following verses, we again run into the problem of how the Greek word nomos should be translated: law, or Law. We have noted before that we have to determine from the context whether Paul is talking about the Mosaic Law, common law that all men would know, general principles (e.g., the laws of physics), or some other meaning. In this context, I think Paul is drawing a distinction between the two “realms” of servitude: the realm of sin and death, versus the realm of the Spirit, which is where you are if you are in Christ. “Law” in this sense is simply that domain under which a person resides. The Jews wanted freedom from the domain of sin and death, and thought the Law could do that. But the Law was unable to do this, and indeed was never meant to do this.

The reason Paul gives for the Law’s inability to free us from sin’s bondage is because it was “weak being through the flesh.” In other words, the Law’s failing was not a fault with the Law. The Law is good, holy, and righteous, given by God. Rather, the problem lay in “the flesh,” which made it weak. We considered the word “flesh” as used by Paul here. The image that usually comes to mind when we think of “flesh” is that of physicality–“flesh-and-bones.” But if we believe that our physical bodies are somehow sinful and this is why they prevent us from fulfilling the Law’s holy demands, we run into serious theological problems. While many heretical groups have held to “spirit=good but matter=evil,” it is hard to justify this biblically. Especially when you consider that Christ was a sinless man, perfect deity and humanity, taking on real flesh and blood.

To summarize our discussion, it is probably better to see Paul’s use of the term “flesh” as a shorthand way of referring to anything that is not of the Spirit (note, captial-S, as in of God). It is not that matter is inherently evil, but that the things of this fallen world are weak in the fight against sin. Hence, being in this world, in bodies that are affected by the Fall, hampers our ability to resist sin. We are new creations in Christ, but this is not our final home, and these mortal bodies will one day take on immortality (1 Corinthians 15:50-57). Although our redeemed natures are oriented toward Christ, and desire to honor and obey God, our present circumstances (living in this world, in temporal bodies, surrounded by sin and temptation) weaken us with regard to the draw of sin. And in the unredeemed heart, the Law couldn’t even begin to compete against sin.

But Christ’s victory on the cross was not simply about empowering us in the battle against sin. The great victory of the cross was winning our redemption. We don’t enter the battle against sin as brave warriors trying to gain God’s favor. Rather, we enter as conquerors, as those who have already gained the prize through Christ. We are already redeemed and holy in the sight of God. Sin has no claim on us, and the power of sin has been broken. Sin may win many battles in our lives, but it has lost the war.

Next week we will recap verse 3 and carry on from there.